The Joys of Word-Nerdery
The Joys of Word-Nerdery
A podcast and two video series
For much of the month of June (of 2024), I entertained an unwelcome visitor. This lurgy, which seems to have been a weak-chinned, hollow-chested descendent of a far more famous flu, kept me away from my desk. Thus, I divided the hours that I would otherwise have spent composing on a keyboard between long naps and short spells of audio-enabled adventures into the world of word-nerdery.
For my money, the title of ‘king of the word-nerds’ belongs to Kevin Stroud. Creator of a podcast called The History of English, Mr. Stroud has, over the past dozen years, published 175 lecture-length programs on the evolution of the Mother Tongue. (This number excludes the sotnia of programs produced for the patrons who support the podcast via Patreon.)
In keeping with the practice of podcasts with titles that start with ‘the history of’, The History of English devotes a lot of attention to the deep background of its subject. Thus, if you listen to episodes in the order of publication, be prepared to spend a lot of time in the company of Hittites, Geats, and Spear-Danes before you get to Shakespeare. Indeed, in the time needed to listen to the 150 or so episodes that precede the first substantial appearance of the Bard of Avon, a well-shod pedestrian could walk a good 500 miles.
With that embarrassment of riches in mind, I would not recommend The History of English to listeners new to the subject. Instead, I would suggest that beginners begin with a series called Rob Words. The work of Rob Watts, an Englishman who lives in Germany, this program consists of more than 60 videos, each of which weighs in at ten minutes or so.
Mr. Watts makes excellent use of the visual potential of his videos, peppering scenes of him walking (or standing or sitting) in (or in front of) pleasant places with well-chosen, brightly-hued, and skillfully-fonted bits of text. He also speaks with admirable clarity, using a variety of English that, if I am not too badly mistaken, most people in the Anglosphere will find both accessible and appealing.
Of late, the eponymous creator of Rob Words has been collaborating with American etymologist Jess Zafarris to produce a program called Words Unravelled. Composed with considerable care - and thus free of the conversational flotsam and jetsam that mars so many double-hosted shows - this series strikes me as an excellent way for viewers with little knowledge of the world of word-nerdery to begin their exploration of the lexicographical landscape.
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